Introduction

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is initiating its five year review cycle of the 2018 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and the review of the 2019 RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard. The development of standard requirements applicable to medium growers and Scheme Smallholders will also be explored.

Apart from reviewing the standard applicable to the production of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) and Certified Fresh Fruit Bunch (CFFB), this process also aims to make recommendations on which elements of the revised P&C should be applied to non-grower RSPO members as part of their shared responsibility to promote sustainable palm oil.

The objective of this process is to review and streamline the production standard to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness in demonstrating that palm oil produced and sold as RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) is credible and inclusive.

To strengthen the credibility of the RSPO certification scheme, this review process strives to address the following key challenges:

• Ensuring the comprehensiveness and relevance of RSPO Standards;

• Achieving desired impact;

• Clarifying interpretations and uncertainties;

• Resolving inadequate capacities and resources in the assurance systems; and

• Aligning RSPO approaches with other sustainability initiatives.

Timeline

Where To Learn More About Standards Review

The review process will be guided by the RSPO Standard Operating Procedure for Standard Setting and Review (2020), in line with ISEAL Alliance’s requirements and the ISEAL Standard-setting Code of Good Practices V6.

Please review the Terms of Reference (ToR) & Review Process for complete details endorsed by the RSPO Board of Governors on 14 February 2022.

Governance Structure

Governance Structure Members

The RSPO Standard Standing Committee (SSC) will provide oversight on the entire process, wherein a Steering Group, consisting of the CEO of the RSPO Secretariat and the Co-Chairs of the RSPO Standards, Assurance, Market Development and Smallholder Standing Committee will ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and joint approach to the review, and will make decisions in the event that consensus cannot be achieved at the TF level.

Standard Review Task Force (TF) Meeting Dates

Meeting 1a	7 – 8 July 2022	Virtual	-
Meeting 1b	9 – 11 August 2022	Kuala Lumpur	The Saujana Hotel
Meeting 2	21 – 23 September 2022	Amsterdam	Novotel Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Hotel
Meeting 3	21 – 23 March 2023	Jakarta	Coming soon
Meeting 4	24 – 26 July 2023	Kuala Lumpur	Coming soon

Interested in observing TF/TC meeting(s)?

In line with RSPO’s principle of transparency, members and stakeholders are welcome to observe any specific TF and/or Technical Committee (TC) meeting. While it is critical for RSPO to make important information and processes publicly available and easily accessible, the organisation is also committed to protecting confidential and private information.

Any member and/or stakeholder can register your interest here.

Key notes for any interested member/stakeholder:

• Alongside your registration, observers should complete, sign and upload a copy of the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct can also be downloaded from the registration form.
• Each registration is for ONE meeting ONLY. If you wish to attend two meetings (e.g., one TF meeting and one TC meeting), please register two times indicating the specific meeting and date you would like to observe.
• We kindly ask that observers register their interest in observing any particular TF/TC meeting at least two weeks in advance. TF/TC meeting dates will be made available on this page.

Public Consultations

Revised RSPO Principles & Criteria and RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard

The first draft of the revised RSPO Principles & Criteria (P&C) and RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard is ready for the first round of Public Consultation, which will be carried out over a 60 day period from 1 November to 31 December 2022 using a global online commenting platform.

Please provide your comments through the online commenting platform. This is a live commenting platform, meaning everyone can access all comments submitted and be able to further contribute to comments already registered. As such to ensure commenter email is verified with sector represented, you will need to register an account. Registration is easy and simple, you can refer to the short video below to guide you through your registration.

You can download:

1. First draft of the RSPO Principle & Criteria 2023 in your preferred language below:
   • ENGLISH
2. First draft of the RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard in your preferred language below.
   • ENGLISH

Public webinars and in-person workshops

The Secretariat will be hosting two public webinars for the launch of the Public Consultation on  7 November 2022 to share details about the main changes between the current Standards (P&C and ISH) and the proposed draft as well as information on how to participate in our global online commenting platform.

Register: Public webinars

Register: In-person workshops

In-person workshops will also be conducted at locations around the world to collect comments, feedback, and input. The workshop agenda will be split across two days:  

• Day 1: RSPO Principles & Criteria - focus on labour and environmental-related indicators and support for smallholder inclusion. Applicable to mills-with-own-plantations, growers and Scheme Smallholders.
• Day 2: RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard - focus on challenges in implementation and adoption of RSPO certification by smallholders, with emphasis on Independent Smallholders.

Please feel free to register your interest in any of the in-person consultation workshops listed below. Participation in the workshop is strictly for confirmed registered participants.

 

* In-person workshop will be one day focused on P&C Criteria.

** In-person workshop will be one day focused on ISH.

Questions? Contact us

Please email [email protected] or the appropriate Secretariat contact below:

Secretariat	Role	Email
Julia Majail	Task Force (TF) Coordinator	[email protected]
Javin Tan	Task Force (TF) Coordinator	[email protected]
Leena Ghosh	Technical Committee (TC) Coordinator (People)	[email protected]
Francisco Naranjo	Technical Committee (TC) Coordinator (Smallholder)	[email protected]
Imam Marzuq	Technical Committee (TC) Coordinator (Planet)	[email protected]

Standards